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News and Developments 2005: U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Two Death Penalty Cases on December 7

Posted: December 06, 2005
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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two death penalty cases on Wednesday, December 7, 2005, including a case to determine the constitutionality of Kansas' death penalty statute and a case that involves the issue of innocence.

SUPREME COURT Agrees to Hear Cases with Death Penalty Implications

Posted: November 08, 2005
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On November 7, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear cases in two areas that could have broad implications for many defendants facing the death penalty.  In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, No. 05-184, the Court will rule on the constitutionality of the military tribunals established by President Bush following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  A U.S. District Court had halted the military trial of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who had been captured in Afghanistan, because the trial violated domestic law and U.S. international treaty obligations.  This decision was overturned by the U.S.

LEGAL UPDATES: Mental Retardation, Representation, Lethal Injections

Posted: October 19, 2005
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Various courts issued rulings this week regarding issues important to capital punishment law:

Florida Supreme Court Urges Legislature to Institute Unanimous Juries

Posted: October 13, 2005
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In a recent opinion addressing several procedural issues regarding the state's capital punishment law, the Florida Supreme Court urged state legislators to require capital jurors to be unanimous in recommending death sentences or at least in deciding what aggravating factors support a death sentence. "The bottom line is that Florida is now the only state in the country that allows the death penalty to be imposed even though the penalty-phase jury may determine by a mere majority vote both whether aggravators exist and whether to recommend the death penalty. . . .

U.S. Supreme Court Hears California Death Penalty Case

Posted: October 11, 2005
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In its first death penalty case this term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Brown v. Sanders, a California case in which the Justices considered whether Ronald Sanders was wrongly sentenced to die by jurors who relied on invalid aggravating factors. Sanders was sentenced to death in 1982. The jury found four of the "special circumstances" required in California and some other states for a defendant to be eligible for the death penalty. Two of those aggravating factors were later deemed invalid by the California Supreme Court and, in a later appeal, the U.S.

Supreme Court Agrees to Consider Third Death Penalty Case Involving Issues of Innocence

Posted: September 28, 2005
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The U.S. Supreme Court agreed yesterday to review the case of a death row inmate from South Carolina who was denied the opportunity at trial to present evidence of the possible guilt of another person.  In Holmes v. South Carolina, No.

The Death Penalty and Supreme Court Justices

Posted: September 15, 2005
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SUPREME COURT JUSTICES AND THE DEATH PENALTY

In a number of instances, Supreme Court Justices appear to have been affected by their experience with the death penalty after being appointed to the Court:

Justice Harry Blackmun was appointed to the Court by President Richard Nixon in 1970. He voted to uphold the constitutionality of the death penalty in 1972 and 1976. He later remarked:

COMMENTARY: The Supreme Court and the Future of the U.S. Death Penalty

Posted: August 31, 2005
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Benjamin Wittes, editorial page writer for The Washington Post, discusses the death penalty in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the October 2005 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.  He states that the Court has "shifted gears on capital punishment" and predicts that this trend will continue through a series of decisions limiting the death penalty and addressing systemic flaws that continue to surface. Wittes writes:

NEW VOICES: Justice Stevens Harshly Critical of the Death Penalty

Posted: August 07, 2005
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Speaking at the American Bar Association's Thurgood Marshall Awards Dinner in Illinois, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said that the death penalty has "serious flaws."  He recalled the late Justice Marshall in remarking how much the country has learned about the risks in death cases: "Since his retirement, with the benefit of DNA evidence, we have learned that a substantial number of death sentences have been imposed erroneously," Stevens said during the ceremony.  He added that Supreme Court cases have revealed that "a significant number of defendants in capi

Supreme Court Grants Last Minute Stay of Execution

Posted: July 11, 2005
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The U.S. Supreme Court granted a last minute stay for Robin Lovitt, who was scheduled for execution at 9 PM on Monday (July 11) in Virginia.  The Court did not give a reason for the stay, but Lovitt stated that he would have been able to show his innocence if state officials had not destroyed DNA evidence from his case after his trial.  (See item below posted July 8).  (Associated Press, July 11, 2005).  See also Innocence.